Oppenheimer says Alibaba partnership potentially additive to Wix bookings growth

Oppenheimer notes that on Wednesday morning, Wix.com (WIX) announced a strategic partnership with Alibaba (BABA). The arrangement provides Wix merchants access to Alibaba’s expansive wholesale platform and also enables Alibaba sellers to build Wix-powered storefronts. While the firm does not yet know the magnitude, specific timing of the phased rollout, or financial elements of the relationship, it sees potential for the partnership to be additive to premium subscriber counts and bookings growth. Granted, Wix has moved away from multi-year bookings as the foundation of Collection disclosures. However, the potential activation of the partnership in the second half of the year could be one factor underpinning management’s confidence in a back-half acceleration, adds Oppenheimer. The firm has an Outperform rating on Wix.com with a price target of $220 price target on the shares.